The present invention relates generally to a pendulum valve that is installed in a connection pipe connecting a vacuum pump between the chamber of a dry etching apparatus and the vacuum pump in the etching line of a semiconductor manufacturing process and adjusts the amount of gas, and more particularly to a pendulum valve that includes a fixed housing configured such that a shaft coupled to a valve gate for adjusting the amount of gas is closely fixed to a valve housing through an O-ring and a rotation shaft (an internal shaft) coupled to the inside of the fixed housing, so that only the rotation shaft separate from the value housing is rotated by using a lip seal as a rotation axis, thereby suppressing the discharge of unnecessary particles and hardened substances while maintaining the sealing characteristics of the pendulum valve.
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2. A pendulum valve for semiconductor device manufacturing equipment installed between a process chamber and a vacuum pump, the pendulum valve comprising:
a valve housing configured such that an air passage penetrates therethrough in order to communicate with the process chamber and the vacuum pump and an operation chamber is formed to communicate with the air passage;
a valve gate installed inside the valve housing, and configured to selectively open and close the air passage through pendulum movement;
a shaft assembly connected to one end of the valve gate, and configured to rotate the valve gate;
a motor configured to rotate the shaft assembly; and
a gearbox configured to transmit a driving force of the motor to the shaft assembly,
wherein the shaft assembly comprises:
a fixed housing configured to penetrate and be fixedly coupled through a bottom of the valve housing;
a lip seal provided inside the fixed housing;
a rotation shaft configured to penetrate through a center of the lip seal such that one end thereof is coupled to the gearbox and a remaining end thereof is coupled to one end of the valve gate, and configured to be rotated by a driving force transmitted through the gearbox by using the lip seal as a rotation axis, thereby rotating the valve gate; and
bushings installed in the fixed housing on both sides of the lip seal so that the lip seal is not separated from the fixed housing.
1. A pendulum valve for semiconductor device manufacturing equipment installed between a process chamber and a vacuum pump, the pendulum valve comprising:
a valve housing configured such that an air passage penetrates therethrough in order to communicate with the process chamber and the vacuum pump and an operation chamber is formed to communicate with the air passage;
a valve gate installed inside the valve housing, and configured to selectively open and close the air passage through pendulum movement;
a shaft assembly connected to one end of the valve gate, and configured to rotate the valve gate;
a motor configured to rotate the shaft assembly; and
a gearbox configured to transmit a driving force of the motor to the shaft assembly,
wherein the shaft assembly comprises:
a fixed housing configured to penetrate and be fixedly coupled through a bottom of the valve housing;
a lip seal provided inside the fixed housing;
a rotation shaft configured to penetrate through a center of the lip seal such that one end thereof is coupled to the gearbox and a remaining end thereof is coupled to one end of the valve gate, and configured to be rotated by a driving force transmitted through the gearbox by using the lip seal as a rotation axis, thereby rotating the valve gate; and
first and second caps respectively coupled to both sides of the fixed housing so that the ends of the rotation shaft penetrate and are coupled through the first and second caps.
3. The pendulum valve of
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This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2020-0056301 filed on May 12, 2020, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
The present invention relates generally to a pendulum valve that is installed in a connection pipe connecting a vacuum pump between the chamber of a dry etching apparatus and the vacuum pump in the etching line of a semiconductor manufacturing process and adjusts the amount of gas, and more particularly to a pendulum valve that includes a fixed housing configured such that a shaft coupled to a valve gate for adjusting the amount of gas is closely fixed to a valve housing through an O-ring and a rotation shaft (an internal shaft) coupled to the inside of the fixed housing, so that only the rotation shaft separate from the value housing is rotated by using a lip seal as a rotation axis, thereby suppressing the discharge of unnecessary particles and hardened substances while maintaining the sealing characteristics of the pendulum valve.
In general, in a semiconductor manufacturing process, an etching apparatus has a structure in which a chamber configured such that an etching process is performed therein and a vacuum pump configured to apply vacuum to the chamber or discharge residual gas from the chamber to the outside are connected to each other. Usually, a pendulum valve is installed in a connection pipe that connects the chamber and the vacuum pump.
The pendulum valve includes a valve housing having an inlet and an outlet, and a valve gate located in the inner space of the valve housing and connected to a support arm firmly connected to a shaft. The shaft is rotatable around its longitudinal axis and is movable in upward and downward axial directions.
Referring to
The valve housing 10 is configured such that an air passage 37 vertically penetrates through the valve housing 10 in order to communicate with the chamber and the vacuum pump and an operation chamber 12 is formed horizontally inside the valve housing 10 in order to communicate with the air passage 37. In addition, the opening/closing part 30 includes a disc-shaped valve gate 31 and a driving part 33 configured to selectively open and close the connection pipe 40 by causing the valve gate 31 to perform pendulum movement. The driving part 33 includes a stepper motor 32, and a shaft 38 connected to one end of the shaft 34 of the stepper motor by means of a gear 36. In this case, one end of the valve gate 31 is connected to the other end of the shaft 38.
The stepper motor 32 is independently installed below the valve housing 10, and rotates the shaft 38 whose upper part protrudes into the operation chamber 12. Accordingly, after one end of the valve gate 31 has been connected to the upper portion of the shaft 38, the valve gate 31 selectively opens and closes the air passage 37 while being rotated. The sealing element 39 is installed in the upper portion of the operation chamber 12 to come into contact with the air passage 37, and is provided with sealing rings 39a and 39b so that the sealing element 39 is lowered and tightly seals the valve gate 31 by the operation of the air cylinder 25. The stepper motor 32 is operated by an electric signal, and the gear 36 serves to transmit the power of the stepper motor 32 to the shaft 38.
The operating characteristics of the conventional pendulum valve 50 having the above configuration will now be described.
First, a process of opening the connection pipe will be described with reference to
As shown in
The rotational force of the stepper motor 32 is transmitted to the shaft 38 through the gear 36. The shaft 38 is rotated by the rotational force of the stepper motor 32 transmitted through the gear 36, and the valve gate 31 is rotated using the shaft 38 as a rotation axis to open the air passage 37 formed in the valve housing 10, thereby allowing air to selectively enter and exit through the air passage 37. In this case, the sealing element 39 is moved upward by the air cylinder 25, and is spaced apart from the valve gate 31 by a predetermined interval.
A process of closing the connection pipe will be described with reference to
As shown in
However, in the conventional pendulum valve 50, an O-ring 41 is installed between the shaft 38 and the valve housing 10. Due to the repetitive rotation of the shaft 38, the O-ring 41 is easily distorted by stress and the mechanical strength is weakened over time, resulting in a problem in that the sealing force is lowered. In particular, a problem arises in that particles such as fine sludge are generated due to the pulverization of the material attributable to frequent friction between the shaft 38 and the valve housing 10.
In order to prevent the above problem, when a lubricant such as a grease type lubricant is applied to the O-ring 41, plasma gas generated during an etching process easily reacts with the lubricant and is hardened. The material hardened as described above is pulverized again by the movement of the O-ring 41 to cause the generation of particles. In other words, the lubricant is hardened by rotational heat, contact with corrosive gas, and ambient heat and generates particles, and the generated particles adhere to a wafer and also affect rotation. Therefore, so there is a limitation to the solving of the above problems through the application of a lubricant.
The present invention has been conceived to overcome the above-described problems of the conventional technology, and an object of the present invention is to provide a pendulum valve that a shaft coupled to a valve gate for adjusting the amount of gas is constructed in a dual structure, and thus a fixed housing is tightly fixed to a valve housing through an O-ring and a rotating shaft (an internal shaft) coupled to the inner side of the fixed housing is installed rotatably through the medium of a lip seal, so that only the rotation shaft is rotated, thereby suppressing the discharge of unnecessary particles and hardened substances while maintaining the sealing characteristics of the pendulum valve.
In order to accomplish the above object, according to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a pendulum valve for semiconductor device manufacturing equipment installed between a process chamber and a vacuum pump, the pendulum valve including: a valve housing configured such that an air passage penetrates therethrough in order to communicate with the chamber and the vacuum pump and an operation chamber is formed to communicate with the air passage; a valve gate installed inside the valve housing, and configured to selectively open and close the air passage through pendulum movement; a shaft connected to one end of the valve gate, and configured to rotate the valve gate; a motor configured to rotate the shaft; and a gearbox configured to transmit the driving force of the motor to the shaft; wherein the shaft includes: a fixed housing configured to penetrate and be fixedly coupled through the bottom of the valve housing; a lip seal provided inside the fixed housing; and a rotation shaft coupled to the inside of the lip seal to penetrate through the center of the lip seal such that one end thereof is coupled to the gearbox and the other end thereof is coupled to one end of the valve gate, and configured to be rotated by the driving force transmitted through the gearbox by using the lip seal as a rotation axis, thereby rotating the valve gate.
The shaft may further include first and second caps respectively coupled to both sides of the fixed housing so that the ends of the rotation shaft penetrate and are coupled through the first and second caps.
The shaft may further include bushings installed in the fixed housing on both sides of the lip seal so that the lip seal is not separated from the fixed housing.
An O-ring may be installed in a stepped portion of the fixed housing in close contact with the bottom of the valve housing for vacuum sealing.
The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
The advantages and features of the present invention and methods of achieving them will become apparent with reference to the embodiments to be described later in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below, but will be implemented in a variety of different forms.
In the present specification, the following embodiments are provided to complete the disclosure of the present invention, and to fully convey the scope of the present invention to those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains. Furthermore, the invention is only defined by the scope of the claims. Accordingly, in some embodiments, well-known components, well-known operations, and well-known techniques have not been described in detail in order to avoid the obscuring interpretation of the present invention.
Furthermore, the same reference numerals refer to the same components throughout the specification. In addition, the terms used (referred to) in the present specification are intended to illustrate a corresponding embodiment and are not intended to limit the present invention. In the present specification, a singular form also includes a plural form unless specifically stated in the phrase. In addition, the term “including (or having)” does not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other elements and operations.
Unless otherwise defined, all the terms (including technical and scientific terms) used in the present specification may be used in the senses that can be commonly understood by those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains. In addition, the terms that are defined in commonly used dictionaries are not interpreted ideally or excessively unless defined to the contrary.
The technical features of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In this case, since the present embodiment is based on the pendulum valve described with reference to
Referring to
The opening/closing part 130 includes a disk-shaped valve gate 131 and a driving part configured to selectively open and close a connection pipe 40 by rotating the valve gate 131. The driving part includes a motor 132 configured to generate a driving force, a gearbox 133 coupled to one end of the shaft 132a of a motor 132 and configured to transmit the driving force of the motor 132, and a shaft 134 coupled to one end of the valve gate 131 and configured to selectively open and close the connection pipe 40 by rotating the valve gate 131 with the rotational force transmitted from the gearbox 133. In this case, the gearbox 133 may include a pinion gear and a reduction gear.
As shown in
In addition, the shaft 134 receives the driving force of the motor 132 via the gearbox 133, rotates, and rotates the valve gate 131. Accordingly, an air passage 37 is selectively opened and closed.
Referring to
A rotation shaft 134c is coupled to the inside of the lip seal 134b in order to penetrate through the center of the lip seal 134b. In addition, the rotation shaft 134c is coupled such that one end thereof is coupled to the gearbox 133 and the other end thereof is coupled to one end of the valve gate 131, and is thus rotated by the driving force transmitted through the gearbox 133 by using the lip seal 134b as a rotation axis, thereby rotating the valve gate 131 coupled to the upper end of thereof.
As shown in
Furthermore, bushings 134f may be installed on both sides of the lip seal 134b inside the fixed housing 134a. These bushings 134f fix the lip seal 134b so that the lip seal 134b is not separated from the inside of the fixed housing 134a to the outside, and seal the inside of the lip seal 134b.
An O-ring 134g is installed in a stepped portion d of the fixed housing 134a for the purpose of vacuum sealing.
The operating characteristics of the pendulum valve according to the embodiment of the present invention having the above-described configuration will now be described.
A process of opening the connection pipe will be described with reference to
As shown in
A process of closing the connection pipe will be described with reference to
As shown in
As described above, according to the present invention, there is provided the pendulum valve that includes the fixed housing configured such that the shaft coupled to the valve gate for adjusting the amount of gas is closely fixed to the valve housing through the O-ring and the rotation shaft (the internal shaft) coupled to the inside of the fixed housing, so that only the rotation shaft separate from the value housing is rotated by using the lip seal as a rotation axis, thereby suppressing the discharge of unnecessary particles and hardened substances while maintaining the sealing characteristics of the pendulum valve.
As described above, the technical spirit of the present invention has been specifically described in conjunction with the exemplary embodiments, but these exemplary embodiments described above are intended to be illustrative, but are not intended to be limitative. As such, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains that various embodiments may be possible through combinations of the embodiments of the present invention within the scope of the technical spirit of the present invention.
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